General Education Process: Timeline, Reporting and Improvement
1. Assessment plan and data collection (August of FY)
General Education categories will assessed over a 4 year period on a rotating basis (see schedule below). Courses to be assessed are chosen by IAE in the summer prior to the assessment year based on expected enrollments. Each year the assessment plan is emailed to chairs, General Education assessment coordinators, and individual professors teaching the courses. The plan is also posted on the IAE webpage and emailed periodically over the year as a reminder.
General education data can be collected in either of the regular 16-week semesters, although the FSEM program does its own collection and reporting. In the Methods of Investigation groups and After Mary Washington, the data are scored and collated by professors for their own courses (and sent via standard spreadsheets to IAE). Exceptions are Writing, Speaking and Digital Intensive, Diverse and Global, and Community Engagement, which involve the collection of digital artifacts which hare scored by independent teams of faculty in the summer. These scorers also prepare the data in spreadsheets for IAE. For Beyond the Classroom, students are surveyed via Qualtrics as a form of indirect assessment suitable to the category, with no instructor involvement. All data need to be provided and/or scored by August 15th following the assessment year.
2. Reporting (Fall following two years of data collection)
Data from the categories assessed that year are compiled by IAE to create a report based on two years of data for that General Education category. Modern Languages (MLL), Speaking Intensive, and Writing Intensive compile their own data but then report to IAE. The FSEM program shares its reports with IAE and the General Education committee. All reports will be completed by IAE by June 30 of the year following data collection.
Reports are provided with commentary for each discipline with courses in that General Education category, regardless of whether courses from those disciplines were assessed in that year. Reports will be sent August 15.
3. Follow-up Process
For each department that had disciplines assessed in that General Education category in the two-year cycle, an “Enhancement Plan” must be created for addressing any shortfalls (based on benchmarks established by the General Education committee) noted in that General Education category (a spreadsheet and instructions will provided). This is similar to the column “Changes to be made as a result of assessment,” that currently exists in the Academic Outcomes Assessment Template. These reports will be completed for the review of the General Education Committee by May 15 in year 4. It will be the responsibility of the department chair to coordinate this task with the relevant instructors. The Associate Provost for IAE will follow up to make sure each discipline provides and implements a plan, and will provide a summary report to the General Education committee. Reports and follow-up plans will be publicly available to deans and all teaching staff.
Disciplines that do not provide assessment data over the two-year collection period will have their courses removed from the General Education course listing. Failing to respond with a report at the end of the reporting period, or failing to attempt to address changes, will also result in course removal. Appropriate warnings and additional opportunities to write a report will be given prior to removal from the General Education list.
Data collection dates:
Dec 15, May 15 of year 1 of reporting for that category (August 15 for scored data)
Dec 15, May 15 of year 2 of reporting for that category (August 15 for scored data)
IAE initial report:
Completed by June 30 of year 3, shared with departments August 15 of year 4
Discipline follow up report:
Completed May 15 of year 4
No data collected for that general education category during year 3 and 4
Schedule for General Education Assessment 2024-2033
Yellow categories are SCHEV competencies with required reports in the report year.